The number of data breaches increased more than 400 percent in 2018 exposing almost 15 billion records, according to the identity intelligence company 4iQ.

The company’s annual report confirmed 12,440 new breaches, a 424 percent increase compared to 2017, and of the 14.9 billion records compromised, 3.6 billion were confirmed real and exposed for the first time and were not part of an earlier breach. Government agencies were fastest growing target suffering a 291 percent increase in data breach incidents and the United States and China were home for 47 percent of all breached records, 4iQ found.